Image analysis techniques are utilized in a vast array of everyday applications ranging from consumer systems to industrial, scientific, medical, law enforcement systems and solutions. However, current image analysis systems suffer from many disadvantages and drawbacks.
The inventive data processing system and method advantageously provide a number of scalable novel image/object recognition and processing techniques that are capable of dramatically improving the efficacy, reliability, and accuracy of conventional and future surveillance, detection, identification, verification, matching, navigation, and similar types of systems utilizing image acquisition/analysis of any kind. Moreover, the use of the novel data processing system and method of the present invention, advantageously provides unequaled levels of tolerance to degradation in quality, decrease in available portion, increased noise, and variation in positioning and/or orientation in the images being analyzed as compared to the corresponding reference image(s).
The techniques of the inventive data processing system and method are especially effective under conditions of strong, real-time limitations, shock/vibration overloading, atmospheric noise, arbitrary signal distortions, etc., because they rely on utilization of a newly developed novel type of spatial response surface functions, hereinafter referred to as “pleograms”, that are unique for each initially observed image, and that are later used for further matching thereto. Due to their inherent redundancy, comparable to holographic-based measurements, pleograms are extremely informative and stable. As a result of this property, utilization of pleograms in image analysis (e.g., identification, recognition, matching, etc.) applications creates an environment that is practically immune to strong signal/image distortions, arbitrary noises, etc., thereby providing, a high level of reliability in comparison to conventional raw image matching. Moreover, the novel pleographic approach is based on 3-dimensional object identification procedures that have substantially higher discriminative power than previously known image analysis techniques. The novel techniques based on the inventive pleographic approach and method provide, in particular, measurement accuracy and factual continuity due to an efficient data restoration between discrete reference points that results in higher effective resolution. The novel pleographic technique also meets the criteria of the minimal mean risk of real-time decision-making and is readily suitable for actual implementation including by way of simple real-time computations.
In summary, the novel pleographic image analysis (PIA) system and method of the present invention, include, but are not limited to, the following distinct unique features and advantages over previously known solutions:                Utilization of all available information about the observations and utilizes this information for full likelihood estimate,        No specific assumption regarding the noise distributions are required—any arbitrary random distortions are admissible for statistically optimal algorithm synthesis,        Significant tolerance to imperfect images and conditions—the matching reliability remains satisfied even if the images are strongly damaged        Mere pipeline computations that provide high speed processing        The technology can be deployed in a variety of platforms        
The inventive PIA system and Method are advantageous in a wide variety of commercial applications such as biomedical diagnostics support, biometric access control, law enforcement, security, navigation, etc. In inventive PIA system and method are also particularly effective in military applications, such as automatic target detection (ATD), automatic target recognition (ATR), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and so on. In such applications, the use of novel PIA techniques substantially increases the reliability/accuracy of target identification, increases the noise-stability, reduces processing time, and lowers the minimum requirements of the sensors and images captured in the course of system operation.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.